Voting-machine



(No Model.) 7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. J. SW EY. VOTING M INE.

No. 552,575. v Patented Jan. 7, 1896.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

I Em EA M M .1 JT 0 V No. 552,575. Patented J55 7,1895.

UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

GEORGE JAY SW'EENEY, OF PETALUMA, CALIFORNIA.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 552,675, dated January'7, 1896.

Application filed April 22, 1895.

To (All whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE J AY SWEENEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Petaluma, county of Sonoma, State of California, haveinvented an Improvement in Voting- Machines; and I hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to the class of votingmachines; and it consists ofa casin g, which is preferablya transparent one, as of glass, saidcasing having within it one or more rotatable cylinders, to theperipheries of which is secured a voting,or, as it may be called, atally sheet, the spaces upon which are adapted to be successivelybrought into alignment with an overlying slot or opening in the casing;a sliding stamp mounted upon the casing beside said slot and adapted tooperate through it to leave its impression upon the underlyingtallysheet; means for intermittently rotating the cylinder to presentfresh spaces of the tallyshcet to the action of the stamp, and otherdetails of construction, combination and arrangement, all of which Ishall hereinafter fully describe and specifically claim.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine by which the voter isenabled to register his vote for each candidate directly upon thetally-sheet, thereby saving the time used in reading out the votes afterthe election is over and tallying them by hand; also to provide foravoiding mistakes of carelessness, ignorance,or dishonesty; to minimizethe time of voting and to economize in the cost, generally, of holdingan electiomas well as to enable returns to be made in the shortestpossible time and subsequent recounts to be had.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanationof my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view myvotingmachine. Fig. 2is a cross-section through the stamp and cylinder. Fig. 3 is a verticalsection showing the end stamp and means for intermittently rotating thecylinder. Fig. 4: is a view of the tally-sheet.

A is a casing of any suitable shape and dimensions. It may be made ofany suitable material though a transparent material, such as glass, isto be preferred, in order that the simple mechanism may be exposed toview.

\Vithin the casing is mounted upon a hori- Serial No. 546,764. (Nomodel.)

zontal axle b a cylinder B which is adapted to be rotatedintermittently, and for accuracy in limiting itsmovement it iscontrolled by a central spring Z2 which causes it to hold firmly againstthe pawl which effects its operation, and which I shall hereinafterdescribe.

A crank b on the end of the axle may be used to initially set thecylinder or to rotate it by hand upon occasion for such operationarising. There may be one or more of these cylinders within the casingA, and for the purpose of illustration 1 have here shown two, which,together with parts to be hereinafter described, are mere duplicates ofeach other, whereby more than one voter may be accommodated at the sametime, and being duplicates it will only be necessary for me to describeone of these sets of devices.

Upon the top of the casing A, running transversely upon it and in plainsight of the Voter, is a strip 0, with the names of the candidates andthe political parties to which they belong plainly printed thereon.Beside this list or model strip is a groove or way din which is fittedand adapted to slide a stamp D, adapted to operate down through a slot ain the easing and upon the tally or voting sheet E which is secured toand wrapped around the cylinder B.

The stamp D has a pointer (Z by which its position is regulated withregard to the names on the list 0, over which said list the pointerplays. This stamp is freely movable by hand, and slides throughout theentire length of the groove and slot, so as to operate upon the entirewidth of the tally-sheet E on the cylinder below.

At the end of the slot to is fixed upon the casing a stationary stamp F,with the word Voted upon it. It is intended that the offioer in chargeof the machine shall press down this stamp himself to make the wordVoted, indicating by its position on the tally-sheet that the electorhas properly voted. This the offioer does only after being satisfiedthat the proceedings are formal and regular, and this same operation ofthe stamp F at the end of the slot is made to effect the further purposeof turning the cylinder B so as to cause the tally-sheet to present afresh space under the slot to ready for the next voter. This operationis effected by the following means: Upon the end of the cylinder B is aratchet b and with this engages an actuating-pawl f, carried by apivoted leverf, which is mounted within the fixed portion of the frameof the stamp F. The lever f is controlled by a spring f and is operatedby the vertically-movable portion f of the frame of the stamp and aswitchtongue f therein, as follows: The upper end of the lever f has astud or pin f which, when the portion f of the stamp moves downwardly,travels against a straight wall. thereof until it passes the end of theswitch-tongue f Upon the upper movement of the portion f of the stampthis stud will be deflected by the inclined switch-tongue, and the lowerend of the lever f will thereby be moved so that the pawl f engaging oneof the teeth of the ratchet I) of the cylinder will move said cylinderone space, and as soon as the stud leaves the switch-tongue the spring fwill return the lever f to normal. position. Thus upon each operation ofthe stamp l at the end of the slot the cylinder 'ill be moved one toothto cause the tally-sheet to present a fresh space for the next voter.This necessary operation of the cylinder is announced by means of a bellor gong G, which is operated upon by a striker g actuated by an arm g bywhich the teeth of the ratchet of the cylinder successively play.

The tally or voting sheets E are made with transverse spaces 6 toreceive the impression of the stamp, and they have margins c forattachment to the cylinder. They have also a column 6 for party namesand candidates. They have also a space 6 for numeral totals, and a space6 for written totals, a space 0 at one end for the election-officerssignatures, and a space 6" at the other end for the official heading. Iprefer to use two or more of these sheets on each cylinder, separated bycarbon or other manifolding paper, whereby any number of tally-sheetsmay be made by the same operation.

His a screen which separates the voter from the election officers, and Iis a screen which separates voters operating; different cylinders at thesame time from each other.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The tally or voting sheets Ebeing mounted upon the cylinder and set at the startingpoint, a voter isadmitted, and taking hold of the stamp D votes successively for hiscandidates, as he runs the stamp down its way, regulating its positionbymeans of its pointer over the model list C. lVhen he reaches the endof the voting, the officer of election, having become satisfied of theregularity of the proceedings, then operates his own stamp F, by whichhe is enabled to stamp the word Voted upon the tally-sheet in the samespace that the voter has voted, but at the end thereof. As this stampsprings back it causes the cylinder to turn one space, as heretoforementioned, thus turning the voting-marks just made away from positionand bringing a new blank space into position under the slot ready forthe next voter. The bell or gong is sounded at the same time, andindicates that the voting space under the slot has been changed.

Having thus described my invent ion, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A voting machine, consisting of a rotatable cylinder across the upperface of which extends a suitably spaced voting or tally sheet, a casingfor the cylinder having in its upper face contiguous to and parallelwith the voting sheet a transverse groove, a stamp slidably mounted insaid groove, having a pointer adapted to operate over the names on saidsheet, a spring for raising the stamp after it has been depressed toregister the vote, and a second stamp fixed at the end. of the grooveand having a connection with the cylinder whereby when said second stampis operated the cylinder is operated to present a new s1 awe of thesheet to the action of the stamp.

2. A voting machine consisting of a casing having a transverse groove orway formed in its upper surface, a strip secured contiguous thereto andbearing the names of the persons to be voted for, a ratchet on the endof the cylinder, a stamp slidably mounted in said groove and havingapointer adapted to operate over the names on said sheet, a second stampat the end of the groove, a fulcrumed lever in the path of the movementof the second stamp, adapted to be operated by said second stamp, andmeans whereby when the second stamp is operated the cylinder is retatedto present a new space of the sheet to the action of the stamps.

3. A voting machine consisting of a rotatable cylinder having a suitablyspaced voting or tally sheet upon its upper surface, a groove or wayextending transversely across the top of the cylinder, a verticallydisposed stamp mounted to slide in said groove, with a spring actingupon its stem to hold it normally elevated, a pointer on the stamp tooperate over the tally sheet, a second spring-actuated stamp fixed atthe end of the groove and means for intermittently rotating the cylinderconsisting of a ratchet on the cylinder, and a lever having one end inthe path of and operated by the second stamp, and having its oppositeend provided with a pawl adapted to engage the ratchet and turn theroller at each operation of the second stamp, whereby a new space ispresented to the action of the stamps.

4. In a voting machine, the combination of a rotatable cylinder havingupon it a suitably spaced voting or tally sheet, a slidable stampadapted to operate upon the spaces of the veting or tally sheet, and ameans for intermittently turning the cylinder to present a fresh spaceto the action of a stamp, consisting of a ratchet on the end of thecylinder, a springcontrolled pawl engaging the ratchet, and means foroperating the pawl consisting of a slidable frame, a switch tongue insaid frame,

and a pivoted lever carrying the pawl and adapted to be vibrated bymeans of the sliding frame and its switch tongue.

5. A voting machine consisting of a rotatable cylinder having atransverse groove or way, a stamp slidable in said groove and having apointer, a voting or tally sheet contiguous to and parallel with thegroove or way, having a series of transverse spaces to receive theimpressions of the stamp, said sheet having also a column of party namesand candidates, a space for numeral totals, a space for written totals,and spaces at opposite ends for signatures and heading, a second stampand means operated thereby to cause the cylinder to be intermittentlyrotated to present a new surface of the sheet to the action of thestamp.

(5. A voting machine consisting of a rotatable cylinder carrying thevoting or tally sheet, with suitable spaces thereon, a fixed way orguide, a sliding stamp moving on the fixed way or guide and operatingupon the spaces of the voting or tally sheet, a stationary stamp adaptedto operate upon the same space of the tally sheet as the slidable stamp,and the means for intermittently moving the cylinder to present a freshspace to the action of the stamps, consisting of the ratchet on the endof the cylinder, the springcontrolled lever and its actuating pawlcarried by the fixed portion of the frame of the stationary stamp, thereciprocating portion of the frame of said stamp, and the switch tonguein said portion adapted to vibrate the lever of the actuating pawl.

7. A voting machine consisting of a casing having in its top a modellist of candidates, &c., a groove or Way and a slot, a cylinder mountedwithin the casing and carrying the voting or tally sheets properlyspaced, said cylinder having a ratchet at one end, a stamp mounted andadapted to slide in the groove or way of the casing and having a pointerplaying over the model list, said stamp 0perating through the slot ofthe casing upon the spaces of the voting or tally sheet, a stationarystamp adapted to operate through the slot in the casin g upon the samespaces of tally sheet, the lever and actuating pawl carried by saidstamp and engaging the ratchet of the cylinder, and the reciprocatingportion of said stamp having the switch tongue by which the lever isvibrated to actuate the pawl.

S. A voting machine consisting of a casing having a slot in its top anda slidable stamp mounted on said casing and operating through the slot,a cylinder Within the casing having the voting or tally sheet secured toit, ameans comprising a fixed vertically mounted stamp, a pivoted leverand a pawl carried thereby for intermittently rotating the cylinder topresent a fresh space of the voting or tally sheet to the action of thestamp, a gong or bell removed from the stamps and having a striker andthe ratchet on the end of the cylinder for operating said striker whenthe cylinder is turned.

' In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEORGE JAY SlVEENEY.

\Vitnesses THOMAS C. DENNY, \VM. B. HASKELL.

